Carrier for merchandise



Patented June 10, 1947 (JARRIER FOR; MERCHANDISE William A. ltingler, Wayne, Pa., assignor to The Gardner-Richardson Company, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Mlddletown,

Application September 1, 1944, Serial No. 552,293

My invention has to do with paperboard car- 'IClaims. (Cl. 224-45) rier for articles of merchandise and has for its principal object the provision of improvements in such carriers.

My new carrier may be used for bottles or the like; but it has additional uses. It was developed (and this is illustrative of its utility) to provide a packaging structure which would afford protection to a sales unit of table glassware when a series of such units is assembled in an outer container for shipment and storage and which would also provide a means whereby the purchaser of such a' sales unit could conveniently carry his purchase with him from the store, there being no necessity for additional containers, packing materials or wrappings.

An object of my invention is the simplification of carriers of the ling type combined with greater strength, greater individual isolation of the articles contained therein, and greater economy.

These and other objects of my invention, which will be set forth hereinafter or will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon reading these specifications, I accomplish by that certain construction and arrangement of parts of which I shall now describe an exemplary embodiment which is the carrier for a sales unit of table glassware mentioned above. Reference ismade to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a paperboard blank for my carrier.

Figure 2 is a plan view thereof in finished form as the carriers will be shipped from the box manufacturer to'the user. i

Figure 3' is an end elevation of my carrier in erected form and holding the articles to be carried. V l

Figure 4 is a side elevation thereof. The blank is an elongated and substantially rectangular piece of boxboard divided by transverse scorellnes to present a bottom wall portion I, side wall portions 2 and 3, and carrying portions .4 and 5. The bottom wall is dcmarked from the adjacent side wall portions by score lines 6 and I and also preferably is-provided with a central score line 8 upon which. the blank may be doubled. The side wall portions are provided with a series of cuts disposed longitudinally of the blank and dividing the side wall portions into strap-like members. The conformation of these side wall portions.

cut lines may be considerably varied in accordance with the shape of the articles to be-carried, and it willbe understood that my invention in its broadest aspect is not confined to the particular conformation shown. The vertical strips, into which the side wall portions are divided, are designed in the erected structure in such fashion form side walls of the structure and means for separating and positioning the carried articles. In the specific embodiment, cut lines 9 and I ll parallel each other for a given distance away from score lines 6 or 1 and then diverge, as at 90, and la, to conform to the shape of the upper part of the carried articles. The several cuts operate to form alternate strips, indicated at A and B. At the points where the cut lines diverge or are non-parallel, as at 91; and Illa, score lines H are formed across the strips. The strips A also terminate in score lines I! at the top of the The strips B are provided with transverse score lines is at a point intermediate score lines 6 or I and II.

The handle portions of my carrier are provided with transverse score lines l4 and I5 at approximately the height of the carried articles in the erected carrier; and the outlying parts of the handle portions are provided with .hand hold perforations, or preferably flaps l6 and II demarked by cut lines" and I9 and score lines 20 and 2i.

To complete the formation of the knocked down carrier, the blank of Figure 1 is bent double along the score line 8, as shown in Figure 2, and upper portions of some or all of the strips B are preferably attached together, as may be done by staples 22, spot gluing, or other suitable means.

Referring to Figure 3, it will be seen that when the carrier is erected by flattening out the bottom panel I, the A strips of the side wall portions may be causedto extend vertically up to their score lines H, as at 23, and then extend aslant handle members 4 at the score lines l2.

upwardly, as at 24, to join the vertically. disposed v The B strips extend downwardly, as at 25, forming a partition between the; carried articles; but because of the slantwise disposal of portions 24 of the strips, the B strips do not meet the bottom,

' a shipping container;

vertically. Instead, they bend on their score lines II and I3 in such manner that their lower portions 26 are disposed slightly slantwise.

At 21 I have indicated articles to be carried, in this instance tumblers, which are smaller at the bottom than at the top. The slantwise disposition of the lower portions 26 helps to afford a tighter retention of the tumblers, as will be evident. Still 'lower portions 28 of the B strips underlie the bottoms of the tumblers. The respective A strips in their upper portions 24 form .scokets for engaging and supporting as well as separating the articles 21, the shape of the cut lines 9a and [a being appropriate to the shape or the carried articles at this point. The articles thus are each snugly retained in the carrier and separated in two directions from adjacent articles. The handle portions 4 may be separated, bending along score lines I4 and I5, and disposed across the top of the carried articles, as indicated in dotted lines at 4a and 5a in Figure 3. When the carrier is in this form, it provides an excellent backing for the carried articles and may be boxed or wrapped as such or combined with other similar carriers and their contents in They also may be stacked in the retail store, as will be evident. But, as shown in solid lines in Figure 3, the handle portions may be brought together, and the flaps l6 and I! struck through the hand holes from one side to form a carrying grip.

My carriers provide an excellent display medium for merchandise during retail sale, and may be decorated or printed as desired. When a sale is made, the purchaser merely picks up the carrier with the contained merchandise and takes it away with him, there being no need for any external container or wrapping from the standpoint of protection. But should the purchaser desire the package wrapped, this may be done simply and expeditiously without the need for assembling the articles and packing them to protect each other. The carrier, with the carrying portions disposed as shown in dotted lines in Figure 3, may simply be wrapped as such, providing a neat, rectangular package.

While I have described a carrier suitable for table glassware in which the upper parts only of the cut lines are configured non-rectilinearly to correspond to the articles, it will be understood that for articles of difierent shapes, the lower portions of the cutlines may be configured as may be required.

Modifications may thus be made in my invention without departing from the spirit of it. Having thus described my invention in an exemplary embodiment, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a carrier for articles, an elongated paperboard blank divided by transverse score lines into a bottom wall, side wall members on each side of the bottom wall, additional walls adapted to extend inwardly slantwise and handle grip portions on the outlying sides of the last mentioned walls, the said side walls and said additional walls being divided by cuts in the direction of the length of the blank into a series of strips, certain of said strips arranged to bend on intermediate score lines to provide portions forming said side wallsand extending upwardly from the bottom wall in the erected structure, and other portions forming said additional walls and extending upwardly and inwardlyto permit juxtaposition and erection of I the handle grip portionsvertically and above the of said strips arranged to be deflected inwardly oi the erected structure, and scored to provide portions substantially vertically disposed in the plane of the handle grip portions, other portions overlying the bottom wall in substantial parallelism thereto, and slantwise disposed portions connecting said first mentioned portions.

2. .The structure claimed in claim 1 in which the said cuts, in the portions extending inwardly from the said side wall portions, diverge from each other to conform to the cross-sectional shape of articles to be carried, forming sockets therefor, into which such articles may be placed with portions of the second mentioned strips underlying them.

3. The structure claimed in claim 1 folded on a score line intermediate the bottom wall to form a fiat, collapsed structure, certain opposite ones of the second mentioned strips being connected to each other in their upper portions.

4. In a carrier, an elongated paperboard blank having a central, transverse bottom wall portion demarked by score lines from outlying portions, said outlying portions terminating in handle grip portions, each of said outlying portions having a transverse score line spaced from the first mentioned score lines, there being cuts in said outlying members, extending generally in the direction of the blank, beginning at the bottom wall score lines, extending to said second mentioned score lines, and therebeyond for a substantial distame, the said cuts diverging beyond said score lines and following generally the cross-sectional shape of articles to be carried, said cuts dividing parts of said outlying portions into strips, alternate ones of said strips being scored transversely at the termination of said cuts, the remainder of said strips being scored transversely at points intermediate the bottom wall score lines and the second mentioned score lines.

5. The structure claimed in claim 4 in which the bottom wall has a medial score line on which the blank is folded, opposite ones of alternate strips being connected together.

6. In a carrier for merchandise, an elongated paperboard blank cut and scored to present a bottorn wall, outlying portions articulated to each side of the bottom wall, and handle grip portions articulated to the outlying portions, the said outlying portions being divided in the general direction of the length of the blank by cuts into two sets of alternate strips, one set of strips arranged, in the erected structure, to extend upwardly from the bottom wall, then inwardly and aslant to a to provide sockets for articles to be carried, and

said second setof. strips arranged to underlie said articles with said outwardly and downwardly slanting portions providing abutments for the inner bottom edges of said articles.

7. A carrier for merchandise comprising an elongated paperboard blank cut and scored to provide, in an erected structure, a bottom wall, upwardly extending side walls at each edge of the bottom wall, inwardly extending wall portions and handle grip portions extending vertically in a plane medial of the carrier, said side walls and inwardly extending portions being divided by cuts into a plurality of strips extending in the direction of the length ofthe blank, alternate ones of said strips arranged to be displaced inwardly of the erected structure, said cuts shaped to form sockets for tapering articles to be carried, and said inwardly displaced strips arranged to underlie said articles, and follow upwardly, in part at least, a slantwise course, thus permitting said inwardly extending wall portions to lie aslant.

WILLIAM A. RINGLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number Number Norway June 24, 1940 

